Milan's coach, Carlo Ancelotti, hailed David Beckham for "another great game" after the England midfielder scored in the 1–1 draw against Genoa last night. Beckham scored a trademark free-kick in the first half, a goal which looked to have handed the Rossoneri three points only for the Argentina striker Diego Milito to grab the equaliser with three minutes to go.

Ancelotti said of Beckham: "He has played another great game."

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United midfielder was taken off with 19 minutes to go with an abductor injury but Ancelotti is confident he will be fit for Sunday's trip to Lazio. "We will evaluate David's condition over the next few days," said Ancelotti. "But it doesn't seem anything serious. It's just a muscular injury."

Beckham also impressed the watching England coach, Fabio Capello. But Cappelo said he had not decided whether to include the midfielder in his squad for the friendly on 11 February against Spain. "I must still decide. However, I was happy with Beckham's performance. He seems well integrated in the Milan team."

Beckham's display was also lauded by the Italian press. The leading sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport declared him their man of the match and added: "Beckham almost scored early on, then he found the net with a free-kick. He helps in defence, midfield and in attack.

"If all [Milan's players] battled like he does, Milan probably would not be looking up at Juve and Inter."

The Corriere della Sera newspaper believes Beckham's performance would have impressed Capello. "There were two winners last night, Beckham and Milito," the Milan-based newspaper said. "Both scored, a valid way to convince Capello and [Argentina coach, Diego] Maradona to open the doors to their respective national teams."

Beckham's future has been the subject of much debate over recent days with the player thought to be considering an attempt to turn his loan switch from the Los Angeles Galaxy into a permanent deal.

The MLS club have announced they would not consider letting Beckham go and expect him to return to California on 9 March while Milan are content to let the 33-year-old decide.

The Galaxy coach, Bruce Arena, said that he expected Beckham to report back in Los Angeles when his loan spell ended with Milan in March. "He's going to be back here March 9," Arena said. "We've entered into a loan agreement with Milan [in which] the player, his agent, Milan, ourselves and Major League Soccer understand the guidelines."

Ancelotti said: "We all like him but it's difficult to talk about his future now. It's up to him to decide if he wants to stay. He knows how much we appreciate him here. We would be happy if he remains but he must resolve the problem with his club."

The draw against Genoa means Milan are eight points behind their city rivals Internazionale and two adrift of the second-placed Juventus.